Bad Boys: Ride or Die

I still think this one should have been called Bad Boys 4 Life, but what do I know… *le sigh*

Following Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) four years after the explosive finale of Bad Boys for Life, Bad Boys: Ride or Die puts this Dynamic Duo in the crosshairs of a villain looking to tarnish the reputation of the late Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano), something that Mike and Marcus won’t stand for. Bringing back familiar faces from across the franchise such as Mike’s incarcerated son, Armando Aretas (Jacob Scipio), to help them clear their late friend’s name, it isn’t long before Mike and Marcus realize just how far the corruption and frame game has crept into their own lives, sticking the pair between a rock and a hard place — a situation that they’re well used to. What follows is a return to form for a series that’s all about family, humor, and blowing shit up.

Being a fan of these films, specifically Bad Boys II for reasons I could talk all day about, I was a bit skeptical going into this one. Not only did the previous installment, Bad Boys for Life (*le sigh*), do little more than give fans the look of the movies that came before rather than the feel of them, but it ultimately ended up as a middling attempt at recapturing the franchise’s blockbuster magic. With most of those growing pains out of the way, Bad Boys: Ride or Die easily becomes the film the last movie wanted to be by upping the action, humor, and level of filmmaking in ways that satisfy and feel more like the original blueprint Michael Bay started with. Throw in some great moments with the MVP of the franchise, Reggie (Dennis Greene), now a badass Marine, as well as a hilarious subplot about Marcus believing he can’t die, and the hallmarks of this franchise are strong when they’re present, yet still aren’t enough to save this one from its problems entirely.

Elevating itself in perceptible ways but still held back by some amateurish filmmaking, uninteresting plot beats (stemming from the last movie’s stupid revelations, to be fair), and some convoluted storytelling that goes from thrilling and entertaining to boring and uninspiring without much transition time in between, and Bad Boys: Ride or Die veers ever closer to becoming a genuinely great Bad Boys film, but unfortunately falls just short of that mark. Lastly, and despite admitting that this is a better script than the last film, I almost feel like Will Smith and Martin Lawrence need more to work with, as their schtick comes across as being just that, a well-formulated shtick rather than something organic and real like how they acted back in the day. Granted, they’re both decades older at this point, but as I was watching I couldn’t help but feel like they were holding back and playing a version of their characters rather than truly embodying the roles they originated, the mediocre script being the prime culprit in my mind.

It might be impossible to replicate either of Michael Bay’s iconic entries in this series at this point — especially the utterly bombastic and over-the-top action film that is Bad Boys II — but Bad Boys: Ride or Die tries its damnedest to do what it can to follow in those footsteps, resulting in a movie that I didn’t expect much from considering my lukewarm feelings about the franchise’s last sequel. Even with this noticeable jump in quality that led to a much more entertaining and satisfying film, Bad Boys: Ride or Die definitely needed a little more work overall, leading me to believe that should this franchise get another sequel, it could be the best one yet.